Have you ever dreamed of going to study at the most prestigious music school in the world?
Certainly the Berklee is considered by most as such. The number of musicians has come out of this school: Gary Burton, Will Calhoun, Terri Lyne Carrington, Vinnie Colaiuta, Donald Fagen, Quincy Jones, Branford Marsalis, Thomas Pridgen, Antonio Sanchez, Steve Vai, Joe Zawinul, just to name a few, and just quoting a few, and just quoting a tenth of those who have won a Grammy Award…
How does he do that?
Simple.
The Berklee College of Music of Boston is home to some of the world's best music teachers.
And the best teachers create the best musicians.
For several years now we have been saying, "What if we bring a dash of Berklee to GM Drum School? But not a fireworks display in the name of special effects and rollers that dismay you but that come in one ear and come out the other, incomprehensible… a real course with a program to be carried out, taught by a berklee teacher, someone chosen to teach in the most elite school in the world…"
The answer was "mr Sergio Bellotti", groove philosopher and deep connoisseur of the fundamentals of drums and teacher for many years at the Berklee College of Music of Boston.
He has played and/or recorded with artists such as Mike Stern, Nathan East, Bob James, Bernard Purdie, Harvey Mason, Alessandra Belloni.
The only Italian lecturer in the battery department at Berklee and artist repeatedly mentioned on international sites such as the Vic Firth Website which has dedicated a special didactic section, Sergio Bellotti represents a person who has spend your life at the service of understanding the fundamentals of this fantastic tool.
And the argument that we agreed with the master was not "rollers that no arranger would ever grant you on a record" or "independent polyrhythmia that few in the world understand", but a topic that is often talked about but that few have understood fully, a topic that everyone says they know on paper but that could eventually lead to decisions like that of Vasco Rossi: choose only American drummers…
The fundamentals of the groove, the stretch, the anchors, the landmarks, the repetitions, the fill around…
What is at the heart of the fact that a rhythm becomes intriguing.
Any drummer who wants to play like a professional needs to know these basics, if he wants to understand what makes sense to pretend to do it.
In the last two years, "From Rudiments to Groove Course" was added to this very successful course. Course that fills the gap between technique and groove, also this analyzed according to the strict rules of the strictest teaching in the world, the one that really leaves a mark of understanding in those who welcome it without pride and presumption.
Here are some testimonials of the courses in GM Drum School in recent years
"When I graduated from Maestro Bellotti's Advanced Groove Course, I started to see things from a different aspect, I listened to something that I heard hundreds of times, and for the first time I understood it…" Fm
"I started a little bit to say that I had studied with a Berklee teacher, I was not very convinced of Bellotti because I was more fascinated by hypertechnical drummers, since I wanted to become like them, but I have to say that after a couple of lessons on the course I realized that the greatness of a musician, of any musician, has to do with these fundamental components. I can't imagine how I'd played for so many years without knowing these basics…" As
"When I saw Sergio doing the clinic on the Rudimenti course I said to myself: "But it's a monster also of technique!" and I wondered why for years in the groove course had almost only explained and demonstrated rhythms, even simple… then I realized, you have to be great to do what you need to do in the music you're playing, it takes a great dose of humility and dedication to music. I realized how many times I played I was presumptuous by tucking in stuff that didn't hit to show that I was good." Mf
"Studying with Sergio Bellotti has changed me very deeply. I have always been a drummer who loves technique, I teach mainly technique, every new technique that came out I studied, and even at my venerable age I continue to be able to propose a respectable 240 bpm of crates or hands and for me the rudiments are like the verses of the Koran for a Muslim, but the meeting with Mr Bellotti changed me very deeply inside, leaving me my love for technique and adding something that I did not have and missed without knowing it…
I had just returned from the states I think it was 2007 and I was invited by my friend Marco and former pupil Marco Pugliese (owner of Ringomusic) to the clinic of Bernard Purdie, historic drummer, the most recorded in the world.
I remember Mr Bellotti and Mr Purdie playing funk and rhythm and blues together and I don't feel like I heard a single flam of snare between them. Yet Purdie interpreted and stretched time… boh, All I know is that I would never play together with Purdie with an audience of teachers and drummers scrutinizing me…
After the clinic in the corridors some criticism of the fact that Sergio had not debuted with excellent technique… well if I had been of the high court of Cassation of the Baptists I would probably have taken away the license to play to those who said it and also to those who listened to it nodding….
Then, I asked the teacher, "Would you like to teach a real Berklee course at our school? Something serious, without looking for what is commercial and attracts sensationalists? I want to be the first student."
In response I removed Tom, Piatti and played for an exact year only with crate and snare… I realized that you make music and not your instrument. I learned to make music with my heart and then transfer to the set the exact things I want to transfer, not automatic movements of which I do not even know the meaning distributed left and right on a large set to make them look various. " GM
The answer has now seen for several years two official courses exclusively for Italy in the GM Drum School locations.
The usual course presentation clinic is free and will be held on Saturday, October 4 at 5:30 p.m. at THE GM Drum School headquarters, classes will be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, to allow more students to attend classes.
Due to past experiences don't forget to book, places are limited.
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